A Feminist Judaism

In her book Standing Again at Sinai, Judith Plaskow attempts to shape and describe a feminist Judaism, and she does so by describing the existing situation and how it developed, the meaning of a feminist Judaism, and how such a change might be brought about, assuming that it is determined that this would be a valuable addition to Judaic thought and practice. Plaskow begins by noting the contradictions that exist between a feminist conception of Judaism and the actuality, and she then considers different aspects of Jewish life and how women fit into them as well as how she believes women should fit into them. Her discussion echoes that of a number of other religious and feminist theorists who have considered the nature of religious thought today, the way a patriarchal religious society has developed, and how to regain some of what has been lost over the centuries as religion shifted from a feminine to a masculine social structure.

Plaskow is truly calling for change and not merely for a cosmetic alteration in Judaism. She says that there is a contradiction in Judaism which signals that Judaism at present is based on a broad patriarchal worldview:

Thus Jewish feminists might agree that it is a matter of simple justice for Jewish women to have full access to the riches of Jewish life. But when a woman stands in the pulpit and reads from the Torah that her daughters can be sold as slaves. . . she participates in a profound contradiction between the message of her presence

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Category: Philosophy - A